Chromium removal from tannery wastewater using Syzygium cumini bark adsorbent

Abstract

In this study, chromium removal efficiency of the prepared adsorbent from the Syzygium cumini bark is stated. After collecting, Syzygium cumini bark was sun-dried, burnt, grinded and sieved on 80 mesh. The prepared adsorbent was characterized by different techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX). The effectiveness of adsorbent for the chromium removal efficiency was examined investigating different parameters, e.g., adsorbent dose, contact time, and relative pH. In batch-wise treatment process at optimized conditions, 75 mL chromium-containing wastewater was mixed with 3 g adsorbent, stirred for 15 min, settled, and chromium content was measured by the titrimetric method. Chromium content in the raw wastewater and filtrate was 2920.24 and 3.46 mg/L, respectively. The chromium removal efficiency was obtained 99.9%. The reduction in BOD, COD, and chloride was 97, 94, and 56%, respectively. The use of low-cost indigenous adsorbent could be an option for the chromium removal from tannery wastewater.